Last Updated on October 7, 2020 by ThoughtsStained

Hello, lovelies!

I apologize to all of my international readers, as this post is very US-centric today (yet, unfortunately, the results of this election are going to have a rippling affect on everyone, I fear, so perhaps not as irrelevant as it may seem). But, I wanted to use this post to explain to any Republican family members, friends or followers why this year, it is more important than ever to not vote according to your party, but to vote for Joe Biden. This is also an open invitation to have CIVIL discussions with any of those people about this. If you’re still on the fence about who to vote for (I’m not sure how you could be, but, just in case), planning to NOT vote (please, PLEASE don’t do that) or plan to vote for Trump, I hope this post will change your mind.

My main focus, in choosing who to vote for, is their stance on climate change and their plan to combat it. Let’s be honest with ourselves for a second: there is a lot going on in the world right now. There are human health crises, a global pandemic, racial injustice, unchecked white supremacy, a failing economy, staggering unemployment, amongst so much else. These are all VERY valid concerns that we should be actively learning about and included in our decision to vote.

However.

We will not be able to combat the things that need to be combated (poverty, social and racial injustice, systemic racism) or fight for basic human rights (like LGBTQIA+ rights, womxn’s rights, immigrant rights, and the right to healthcare access) or dismantle unjust and corrupt aspects in society (like the police system, the electoral college, lack of affordable healthcare, existence of billionaires and more); we cannot do ANY of this if our planet overheats and becomes unlivable and destroyed; if we kill it because we aren’t wiling to vote in those who are going to put laws in place to stop companies from emitting so much carbon and raising our sea levels and temperatures.

Our window is closing to fight climate change and make a positive impact for our country, let alone our planet. That, amongst so many other reasons, is why this presidential election is so important. Because Donald Trump not only doesn’t have a platform or a plan to fight against climate change, but he doesn’t even in believe in it.

Which, if you’re in that camp, may I direct you to many different sources proving not only it’s validty, but also its tragectory and its pressing need to be combated ASAP:

• NASA
• American Meteorological Society
• Climate News
• The Royal Society

I think we should be able to move pass arguing if it exists, instead recognizing that it’s a global pandemic even worse than COVID-19, which has claimed the lives of over a 1 million deaths globally (210,000 on US soil alone). Scientists project that climate change will continue to worsen over next 30-50 years–meaning, even if you are old enough that you don’t think you’ll be be alive in 2060 or 2070, you know someone alive right now who will be. Anyone under the age of 40 has a high chance of living through global catastrophe: a rise in temperatures, a shortened growth season, more intense hurricanes, droughts, flooding, and more. Anyone not born yet will currently inherit a dying Earth, if we don’t stop this. We have already seen the affects this year, with the increased activity of hurricane seasons and the California wildfires.

This fantastic resource by ProPublica reflects not only how climate change will change our temperatures, but also how it will result in a great migration of people traveling north in attempts to find habitable places to live. To those who are against migration, seems like supporting a climate change plan would be in your best interest, if you don’t want a) other people to live in America or b) you don’t want to have to try and leave it, because it’s become inhabitable. 🤷‍♀️

To me, it should be blatantly obvious that we need to vote for a president who not only believes and trust in the scientists that research and study climate change, but a president who has a plan on how to address it. If you don’t believe it, not only am I’m not sure how, but is that a chance you’re willing to take? For, if you’re wrong and we don’t take these steps now, it will result in the destruction of OUR PLANET.

To combat climate change, Biden’s plan includes:

• Investment in clean energy and climate research
• Recommitting to the Paris Agreement, which Trump pulled us out of
• Taking action against fossil fuel companies and other major polluters
• Create jobs in clean energy that will help support the economy and save the planet

You can read in-depth about his plan and how he will put it into action here.

Trump doesn’t have a plan, because he doesn’t believe it exists.

On top of that, other reasons why I want to vote for Biden include campaign promises to:

• Ending violence against women
• Protect the LGBTQIA+ community
• Fight against systemic racism for Black, Indigenous, Latinx, immigrant, Jewish and Muslim communities
• End gun violence
• Making healthcare and education more affordable

Many of these things are not only not part of Trump’s plan, but he has planned the opposite: to continue to create a country that serves only the white elite, the straight, the Christian, the male, the powerful.

You can see some differences in their platforms here:

• So You Want to Talk About…
• Education Works
• Reuters

And, if seeing those platforms and recognizing that this election determines the fate of our PLANET isn’t enough, I also will not vote for a man who is a racist, who is sexist, who is a rapist, who is a white supremacist, who is misogynistic, a tax-fraud, and a science-denier, who set up concentration camps in America, who is actively trying to to turn America in a fascist regime, considering he isn’t sure if he will “accept” the results of the election if they do not favor him.

If that STILL isn’t enough to convince you not vote for him and vote for Biden, keep in mind that, if you don’t vote for Biden and Trumps wins, we may never have an election again, let alone a fair one. There have already been numerous accounts of Trump’s attempts for voter suppression and a campaign against voting-by-mail–something he himself does and something everyone should be allowed to do, DURING A PANDEMIC. If he’s able to continue for a second term, I’m not sure he will ever give up power, ending our democracy as we know it.

Biden sure as hell isn’t my first choice. But I am voting for Biden so that I will have a choice in the future, to vote for a president who truly represents what I believe in. A president will who help dismantle systemic racism, offer reparations to Black and Indigenous communities, protect our BIPOC, immigrant and LGBTQIA+ communities, erase student debt, raise the minimum raise to at least $15 dollars an hour, create universal free healthcare, protect women and, most importantly (becoming most important because we can’t address any of these other issues without a planet to live on, mind), fight climate change and combat environmental injustice.

Biden is a first step towards making that reality.

If we allow Trump to remain in power, democracy in America will fall and the fate of our planet will fall with it.

Personally, if Trump remains in power, then my partner and I will be leaving the United States and seeking to become immigrants elsewhere–continuing the fight for justice here, ofc, but we want our future child(ren) to grow up in a country where they will be protected, valued, respected and cared for; through having access to healthcare, regardless of our paycheck amounts or job status; through making a living wage regardless of their career; to having access to affordable education where active shooter drills aren’t the norm, because there are gun protections in place; to being respected and being able to live without the color of their skin, the religion they follow (or don’t), the gender they identify as or their sexual orientation used against them.

I will always fight to make America better. But I will not subject my children to living in a country built on the values of Donald Trump. To give them a better life, I will leave my country and immigrate elsewhere, unless we can save our democracy.

No country is perfect and no country has this reality, where all of the above are true. But currently, in the United States of America with Donald Trump is president, NONE of that is true. It will only worsen the longer he holds power.

Please, use your voice. Register to vote, if you haven’t yet. Have a voting plan. Vote early, if you plan to vote-by-mail. Don’t leave the polls, if you vote in-person.

Please, for the sake of our communities, for the sake of our country, for the sake of our planet: vote for Joe Biden.

Cheers.